This course focuses on spatial data development and analysis. Topics covered
include basic data structures, data sources, data collection, data quality, geodesy and map
projections, spatial and tabular data analyses, digital elevation data and terrain analyses, and
cartographic design. Several labs in this course are designated as “cumulative problem-solving” activities. Students learn new skills via detailed instructions in a first task, then are assigned a second task without detailed instructions that is based on what they learned in the first task and what they learned cumulatively in previous labs. Students have to figure out the best approach based on everything they have learned up to that point and explain why they chose that approach. The capstone project in this course is intended for students to apply what the technical skills they learned to an application of their choosing, and then to develop a “StoryMap” website that combines maps, text, and other multimedia to describe their work and report their findings.

View GEO/ENS 2500 in the Academic Catalog

Approved for Data Intensive Course Designation starting Spring 2025.